In the Midnight Hour...

1) Hello again! For those who have not been following my blog, please reintroduce yourself. What is your author name?

Lori Handeland

2) What are your top 10 favorite books/authors?

Lord of Scoundrels-Loretta Chase

One for the Money-Janet Evanovich

Heaven, Texas-Susan Elizabeth Philips

Guilty Pleasures-Laurel K Hamilton

Deal Breaker-Harlan Coben

To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee

Jane Eyre-Charlotte Bronte

The Best Man-Kristan Higgins

The Shadow of the Lynx-Victoria Holt

The Promise of Jenny Jones-Maggie Osborne

3) How long have you been writing?

40 years.

4) Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write?

The main characters are usually there when I start but not completely. Others just walk on in. Surprise!

5) What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book?

I do a lot of reading and Googling on settings and occupations. Then I start writing and do more specific research as I go.

6) Do you see writing as a career?

Yes. It has been my only career.

7) What do you think about the current publishing market?

Different from how it was when I started, that’s for sure.

8) Do you read yourself and if so what is your favorite genre?

I read quite a bit and the only thing I don’t read much of (except for research) is non-fiction.

9) Do you prefer to write in silence or with noise? Why?

Complete silence otherwise I get distracted.

10) Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time?

One book at a time.

11) If you could have been the author of any book ever written, which book would you choose?

Harry Potter!

12) Pen or type writer or computer?

I brainstorm with pen and yellow legal pads. I write on the computer, though I did start my first book on a typewriter.

13) What is a day in the life of the author like for you?

I’m up very early so I can hit my elliptical, then I walk the dog and make coffee. Next it’s dealing with my social media and any emails I put aside from the day before.

I try to start writing by 9 am. Once upon a time I would write from the minute my sons got on the bus until they came home, but these days I’m lucky to get in 3 hours before I need to deal with promotion details for any sales I have running or books I am releasing.

Then there’s life . . .

As the only child of an elderly mother, there is a lot to handle. And I must admit that my 3 grandchildren are dazzling and I am frequently dazzled beyond the point of anything else.

14) Do you have any advice to offer for new authors?

Keep writing. The only way to fail is to quit.

15) Describe your writing style.

Fast paced plot and true to life characters dealing with astounding situations.

16) What makes a good story?

Great characterization, structure and pacing.

17) What are you currently reading?

Elin Hilderbrand’s THE FIVE-STAR WEEKEND.

18) What is your writing process? For instance do you do an outline first? Do you do the chapters first?

I’m a pantser all the way. I’ve tried to outline and find I get bored with the story, which means I don’t continue with it.

Sometimes I will write the first chapter or two, then sketch an overview of the turning points and the ending, though all that is subject to change along the way.

19) What are common traps for aspiring writers?

Editing the beginning over and over, which means never reaching “the end.” Push through. The number of people who start a book, then don’t finish a book is epic. Anything can be fixed but a blank page.

20) If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Start self-publishing the instant you hear about it.

21) What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from other genders?

There is always the temptation to create men the way you want men to be. And, to an extent, this is what writing romance is about. However they need to be realistic too. It’s a balancing act.

22) How long on average does it take you to write a book?

I used to be able to write a 90,000+ word book in 3-4 months. Now it would take me 9-12 months. It is what it is.

23) Do you believe in writer’s block?

I do, I do, I do believe in writer’s block. The only way I’ve found to cure it, and sometimes only for a little while, is to push through the book I’m working on, don’t look back. Eyes on the prize of “the end.”

Then edit, edit, edit.

24) Tell me a little bit about your books.

In the Midnight Hour

A Midnight Madness Nightcreature Novel Book 3

Just when I thought it was safe to go home… I’ve been running too long. I’d gotten sloppy. Sloppy gets you captured. But it turns out, the very one I thought I had to hide from, saved me. I just want to live peacefully. But happy family, er, pack reunions don’t seem to be in my future. When my secret is used against me, I’m forced to run again. This time, help comes from the most unexpected source, the greatest werewolf hunter of all time, Edward Mandenauer. To get what we both want—the end of the sadistic, yet sexy, werewolf Zane—Edward and I join forces. But Zane isn’t working alone. Nor is he who or what he says he is. He’s much, much more… All I want is the life I believed I’d lost, but at this rate, I’ll end up captured, imprisoned, enslaved . . . or dead.

Blame It On Midnight

A Midnight Madness Nightcreature Novel Book 2

I saved my daughter. But how do I save myself? I did what I had to. Try and kill my girl? I will end you faster than you can say have mercy. Sure I broke a cardinal pack rule, which will get me executed by my mate. If they find out. If they find me. Saved from capture by Zane, the sexiest of sexy werewolves, my rescue comes with a price. Zane wants a favor, one that could cause an all-out pack war. The last thing I need is to make more enemies, but lives are at stake if I don’t make a stand. Not only that, but I have a secret. An impossible secret that is going to turn the entire werewolf world upside down.

Nothing Good Happens After Midnight

A Midnight Madness Nightcreature Novel Book 1

They say a mother will do anything for her child . . . I’m living proof This nightmare began when I got the call every parent dreads. My daughter, Jenna, was missing from her college campus. Of course, my mind went to the worst place. After all, my late husband was a powerful senator. Was this some political payback? I call in a favor and soon I’m partnered with an FBI sex trafficking agent. He tells me local girls have been disappearing for some time now, and he finally has a lead. But what we find at that abandoned warehouse is something out of a horror movie. Werewolves! Two rival packs, their alphas fighting, winner take all––the pack and the trafficked girls. The werewolves must replenish their breeders, recently decimated by a virus that killed only the females. But Jenna’s been keeping a secret, which only makes two of us. Though I should be angry, I know the lies I’ve told play a huge role in why we’re here. I’ll do anything to make it right. No way is my girl going to become a sacrificial mate for the greater good––even if she is the ‘chosen one.’ So, I do what any mother would do, I take her place, offering myself to Gideon, the winning alpha, as his mate. Gideon’s goal is to live in harmony with the human world, but there are others who exist for the power, for the violence, and they don’t plan to let peace prevail. There’s a civil werewolf war brewing and I am right in the middle of it.